Appointed and Anointed

Exodus 35: 30 – 31

Then Moses said to the sons of Israel, “See, the LORD has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all craftsmanship.

The backdrop to this verse is the construction of the temple. God gave Moses detailed plans for the layout of the temple and the fabrication of every item related thereto. The time had come to build it. How do you succeed at a momentous task? What is the secret to getting a job done in excellent fashion. The answer is, “the anointing.”

This verse is in the Bible, not necessarily for its historical value, but more importantly, for its instructive value. We are all assigned jobs to do and sometimes, many times, they are larger than ourselves. Truly, most tasks worth doing are bigger than our abilities. That’s when it becomes fun and also when we learn how to do the impossible.

Today’s verse pries the lid off the mystery. God anointed Uri and filled him with His Spirit. It seems to me that two of the precursors to this anointing are humility and surrender. When confronted with a new task, how do we respond? Most of us were not trained to stop and consider Yahweh. Therefore, we usually begin in our brains attempting to figure out what steps and resources are required. Most of us begin with planning, then perhaps proceed to meeting with others. This is the way we were trained in the world. Today, Father is showing us a different way. Moses was in partnership with God. God told him, “Look, I’ve already called and appointed a project leader for you and I have gifted him with everything he needs.”

Moses was listening to God and, it seems to me, so was Bezalel. Father God downloaded to Bezalel all the wisdom and talent he needed in order to complete the project. That sounds pretty cool to me. The anointing is the power within us to do that which we could never do in our own strength and knowledge. It is supernatural wisdom and knowledge. It’s just the thing we need for that next big project.

The other remarkable bit about this passage is that it contains what many would consider New Testament language, so it is worth an extra moment to examine. This passage reveals that God “filled” Bezalel with “the Spirit of God.” This is a rare experience for the Old Testament. Jesus told us it was in our best interest that he go away so that he could send the Holy Spirit to us. In fact, the Spirit was not spoken about much in the Old Testament. Jesus introduced him and the Acts 2 phenomenon is the promised out pouring . What is important about all this is the revelation that with the infilling of the Holy Spirit comes the gifts and anointing. It is the Holy Spirit which empowers each of us. We can put aside theology and even history and resolve to something much more foundational and important. You don’t need to resolve any theological debates or questions. None of it matters. In fact, today’s passage seems to fly in the face of some of it anyway.

Here is what is important. We can see, apart from theology, that God thought it was important to fill Bezalel with His own Spirit. It seems the reason was to empower Bezalel to do the task at hand. Now, the bottom line for us would seem to be to inquire of God whether we, individually, are filled or not. I would encourage each of you to ask the Father if you have all of the Holy Spirit that you can have. I cannot imagine a response that says, “I have all the Holy Spirit I need or want.” That just doesn’t make any sense to me. That is why I believe we are afforded an opportunity today, to ask the Father for more. Ask Him what is next for us. What more do you want me to receive? Have I opened my heart to all you want to do in me? Have I surrendered all of me? Am I open and humble. I suppose most of us will find there is more we can surrender. We will likely believe we can be closer to Yahweh than we are currently. That’s great! Perhaps today, each of us can grow closer to the Lord and be filled with more of Him. Ask the Lord and receive the good news!

Knowing God’s Will

Colossians 1: 9

Be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

Don’t you suspect that if you were filled with the knowledge of God’s will for your life, for today, that life would be easier? What if you were filled with the knowledge of God’s will for those things beyond your immediate life? Now that is what I call perspective.

Let’s think about this for a moment. This was Paul’s prayer for the believers in Colossae. We know about Paul’s close walk with the Lord so I have to think that Jesus routinely guided Paul’s prayers. I would think this was especially true when he prayed for the saints. Moreover, wouldn’t we expect that the Holy Spirit guided Paul when he wrote the letters to the churches? 2 Timothy 3: 16 tells us that all scripture is inspired by God. So what is my point? My point is that this prayer and its inclusion in the scriptures was inspired by God for us today and furthermore, that God would not have inspired this prayer for us unless it was possible for us to receive and be filled with the knowledge of His will. However, as big a revelation as that may be that is only a portion of it. Paul prayed, or perhaps God intoned, that this knowledge of God’s will would be accompanied by all spiritual wisdom and understanding. That is hard to wrap your mind around. Since Paul prayed it and since God inspired it then receiving the idea and concept as well as the actual infilling is exactly what we are meant to do.

It is easy to read this verse or today’s devotional and blow right on by. I am hoping, however, that you will stop and think about it for a few moments. Do you agree that yes, this is the inspired Word of God but think that this passage was not meant for you? Perhaps this passage is meant for the really spiritually mature or perhaps this is for pastors. Well, let’s see to whom the letter is addressed. In verse 2 Paul writes, “… to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae.” Those are just regular folks then. Just believers like you and me.

I wish for you, each of you, to receive into your spirit that Father God is speaking to you today. You may think that you are the least in the Kingdom of God, and maybe you are, but even still, God wants to reveal His will to you. No, actually that is too weak. The truth is that he wants to fill you with the knowledge of His will and He wishes to do it with all spiritual wisdom and understanding. You, the least in the Kingdom, have this awesome initiative from God. So, this is for whomever will receive. You do not have to be someone special. You do not have to be in a full-time ministry position. This promise of God, for that is what it is, is for whomever.  Just tell the Father that you are a “whomever” and you wish to be filled.